Phasing apparatus



FEES. 7, 1950 c. N. GlLLEsPlE PHASING APPARATUS Filed sept. 10, 1946 INVENTOR [Allerlei/lf. illafpd ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 7, 195() PHASING APPARATUS Charles N. Gillespie, Waltham, Mass.,assignor to Radio-Corporation oLAmerica,acorporation of yDelaware Application September 10, 1946, Serial No. 695,894

-,5Claims. 1

The present invention relates to phasing apparatus and phasing `circuits land.zmorre particue larly, but not necessarily ',exclusively, ,to thefpha'sing .of the drive means ,for facsimilefequpment, such as a facsimile recorder.

In facsimile systems generally-.1a .moving Epartici a facsimile recorder, such `as the .copyholding drum, must operate co-phaseally with the corresponding part of the transmitter scanner. .The principal aim of the `present inventionis .to .provide novel means .for `automatically .accomplishing phasing of a moving ,part of .the "facsimile recorder with a corresponding part of afacsiniile transmitter.

In accordance with the invention .a prime mover,r such as Aa driving motor' for the apparatus to be phased, is 4operated `at aspeed other 'than its normal speed until 'accurate'phasing "is obtained, whereupon this in phase 'conditionis maintained. In accordance with the 'invention these functions are accomplished automatically.

Another object of the invention is to lprovide electronic meansforperformingfa phasingv operation incidentto the vphasingof ione-,moving part with another moving part. y

A further objectnf the inventionisftofprovide a novel locking circuit in a control relay.

Other objects of the invention'will appearzfrom the following description, referencebeinghadcto the accompanying drawing which shows, ischematically, phasing apparatus arranged :to function in accordance with the invention.

Referring now to the single iigure of drawing, there is shown diagrammatically ,the essential parts of a facsimile ,or photo-rado station which may serve either .as a ,transmitting station or as a .receiving station. When .the equipment is operated ..-to receive a. facsimile signal and produce a recordtherefrom, reception `may be had, it will be understood, from any type of transmitting equipment which is fcapable of producing phasing signals .when the receiving equipment is to be phased. jForlthe sake ofconvenience of description, it willibe assumed that the `transmitting stationfrom whichreception is to be had will be the same as "that shown in the drawing with the switches or other vequivalent control devices setto the transmitting position. Suitable transmitting and recording scanners, which are by now well known'in'the art,jmayib'e employed since 'the invention Vis vnot concerned with the details of image *signal-generational reception. Suitable arrangements'ffor generatns and receiving an image lsignal are disclosed 2 in UnitedStates Patent No. 2,257,282 granted to U.`E.Smith et al. onSeptember 30, 1941.

It will be assumed that the apparatus shown inthe drawingis-to be placed in operation as a receiving station in preparation for recording image signals. Asstated above since the facsimile apparatus perse does not form part of the present invention, it is shown only fragmentarily and diagrammatically and comprises a driving motor l-Iil which-drives the mechanical parts of a recorder and/or a transmitter scanner l2 through a drive shaft Hl and a speed reducing mechanism I6. The apparatus, designated by the referencevcharacter I2, will be referred to as a, recorder whenthe system of vthedrawing is in use as a `receiving station. The motor IIJ is preferablyof the synchronous type so that it will operate precisely in step with the supply frequency. Itwill beunderstood, however, that the motor l0 may be an auxiliary and that the principal mechanical load may be taken by another motor. vThe-motor I0 `is connected to a motor drive 4amplifier 18, the latter being connected through a frequency divider I9 to a source o'f standard frequency 2l. As will hereinafter appear, the frequency divider I9 serves to dividethe output of the frequency standard -2I on two different scales or by two different numbers. A frequency divider suitable for the purpose is dis- A closed and claimed in the copending application of Arthur E. Canfora, Serial No. 696,013, filed September 10, y1946. The frequency division is altered by the internal circuits of the divider I9 upon grounding a connection 22. It will be understood that the standard frequency source 2l may be caused to change its generating'frequency under control of the relay -49 to be described. The system ofthe invention may then be made to function without the divider circuits I9. In the illustrative example, the standard source 2| and the divider I9 constitutes, for'purposes of this invention, a power source, the frequency of which may be changed.

"The incoming signal is applied to a terminal 24 which is connected to the switch arm of a transmit-receive switch 26. The signals applied lto the terminal 24 may be obtained from a jtransmission line, -a carrier current circuit, or it may be the output from a radio receiver. These signals initially will consist voit' a carrier, for example, modulated by'phasing pulses, one for each vrevolution of the scanner drum at the transmitter or its' equi-valent'part. The received carrieris passed through a receiver 28 with switch 26 in theR position shown and the demodulated phasing pulses are applied to the receive point of a switch 3|. The arm of this switch is connected to the grid 32 of a vacuum tube 33 and the system is so arranged that the tube 33 is normally cut-olf by the received phasing signal except for the instant when the phasing pulse occurs. The cathode 34 of the tube 33 is connected to a brush 36 which bears on an insulating commutator 38 having a conducting segment 4I.. The conducting segment 4| is connected to ground, for example, through a shaft 39 and its-.lsv

,denser 94 will, therefore, hold the charge which angular position is angularly related to a phasing y mark or the like on the recorder, copy holder or' drum. The plate or anode 43 of the tube 33 is connected to the switch arm of a transmit-.n

receive switch 46. The receive point R of a relay indicated generally by the reference char-v acter 49. This relay may be any suitable single i 1 current relay, the operating coil 52 of which will cause the relay to respond when plate current from the tube 33 passes through it. Coil 52 also must be designed to serve as a locking coil when it carries plate current of a tube 54, the function of which will later be described. One terminal of the coil 52 is connected to a make contact 56 of the relay 49 and it is also connected to the phasing point Ph of a phasing switch 58. The other terminal of the coil 52 is connected to the positive pole 51 of a source of plate current (not shown) for the tube 33. The make contact 56, the break contact 48, and a contact tongue 62 of the relay 49 constitute a make-before-break arrangement. When the relay is energized in a manner to be described, the tongue 62 engages the make contact 56 before the arm of the contact 56 is withdrawn from conductive engagement with the break contact 48.

The contact tongue 62 of the relay is connected to the receive contact R of a transmit-receive switch 64, the switch arm of which is connected to the plate 66 of the tube 54. The cathode 68 of the tube 54 is connected to ground through a resistor 69. The switch arm of the switch 64 is also connected to one terminal of a relatively large condenser 12, the other terminal of which is grounded. The circuit just described, including the condenser 12, serves as a holding or locking circuit for the relay 49. The contacts 48 and 56 and the relay contact tongue 62 serve as transfer contacts upon energization of the relay.

The previously mentioned connection 22 for the frequency divider I9 is connected to the switch arm of a phasing switch 14. The phasing point Ph. of the switch 14 is connected to the switch arm of a send-receive" switch 16. The receiving point R of this switch is connected to a break contact 18 of the relay 49 which cooperates with a grounded relay tongue 8|. This last described connection provides for raising the frequency of the supply source for the motor IIJ which causes anincrease in motor speed while the relay 49 is de-energized. This is because the motor supply is from the amplier I8 which is initially energized from the frequency divider circuits I9 in the illustrative example of a system embodying the invention. With the relay energized, the frequency returns to the established standard fre-v quency which keeps the motor in synchronism with the transmitter motor, or an equivalent moving part of the transmitter.

The Contact tongue 83 of the relay 49 engages a make contact 84 when the relay is energized to: connect a plate supply source 86 through a resistor 88 to the plate 43 of the tube 33. The plate garound 'the diode 92.

theresisto'r 96is very high to provide a long time constant in the R. C. circuit composed of the resistor 96 and the condenser 94. The con.-

`is applied to it in the manner to be described and .will maintain the grid 38 of the tube 54 positive. -Operation of the system of the invention for phasing the recorder I2 in preparation for a recording operation will now be described. The several switches will be in the receive-phase position asshown. In this connection it will be understood that the transmit-receive switches 26,- 3|, 46 and 16 may be in the form of single switch structure or they may be simultaneously operated. This also applies to the previously mentioned phasing switches 14, 58 and the phasing switch 99. The tube 33 is cut off and assuming that the motor I0 or the connected recorder I2 is out of phase, the relay 49 is de-energized as shown and the lead 22 from the frequency divider I9 is grounded through the tongue 8| and back contact 18 of the relay. This causes the frequency divider I9 to divide by a smaller number, as explained in the mentioned Canfora application, for example, to which reference is made for the sake of illustration and of brevity of this disclosure, thus driving the motor IU at a faster speed. As stated above, other means, not formingla part of the present invention may be used under control of the relay 49 to alter the frequency ofthe supply source. When the receiving drum catches up with the transmitter from which phasing pulses originate, the cathode 34 of the tube 33 will be grounded through the segmentl 4| of the commutator 38 at the same instant that Vthe positive phasing pulse ids aipplied to itsgrid 32 and the tube 33 will con- The plate current of the tube 33 will flow through the winding 52 of the relay 49 via the contacts 56 and 48, thus actuating the relay and opening the contacts 18 and 8| to remove ground from the connection 22. In accordance with the Canfora application referred to above, this causes the divider I9 to divide by its normal number. This is in effect, the same as causing the frequency standard 2| to provide power at a lower frequency. As a result of this, the motor I0 ywill operate in synchronism with the transmitter and the receiving drum or its equivalent part in the recorderv |2 will be in phase with the transmitter. y

The relay 49 will lock up on contacts 48 and 62 and coil current will be supplied by the large capacitor 12 until the tube 54 is actuated. The plate 43 of the tube 33 will be disconnected from the relay coil 52 when the relay contacts 56 and 48 open. The B supply 86 will be connected to the plate 43 through the resistor 88 via the relay contacts 84 and 83. The rst positive pulse on the grid of the tube 33 after the system phases.

will cause a negative pulse to appear on its plate and this negative pulse puts a charge on the capacitor 8| Iv iathe diode 92. After the duraarranges tion of the phasing pulse, -theplate of the tube 33 goes morevv positive toward B+ through the lresistor '88.- This positive vrvoltage change is: coupled through the capacitor 9| andfithe diode -93 to the capacitor- 94. This causes Y positive voltage to appear across the capacitor 94 which is applied to the grid 98 ofthetube 54. The tube F54 is -normally cut-off -by the cathode fbias Lsupjpli'edby the resistor 69 and another resistorjIQZ. 'The resistor Ill-2 is connected to a positive *supply sourceIIJS. When the tube 54 conducts itssupplies the holding current for the coil 52 of the relay 49.

As long as the recorder I2 remains in phase, pulses will be applied to the R. C. circuit 94 and 96 to maintain its positive voltage on the grid 98 of the tube 54, and thus hold the relay 49 closed. The long time constant of the R. C. circuit 94 and 9B will insure that the relay holds up while the recorder I2 is in phase.

The pulses which are in effect applied to the R. C. circuits 94 and 96 cause a neon tube indicator lamp B08 to iiash which gives a visual indication of the in-phase condition. One terminal of the lamp IUS is connected to the positive supply source IBB.

Should the recorder slip out of phase, the positive bias across the capacitor 94 will leak off. rIhis will cut oif the tube 54 and open the relay 49. The neon lamp indicator |06 will stop flashing and the circuit will automatically start to rephase if the switches 14, 58 and 99 remain in the position shown in the drawing for these switches. Normally, however, when the recorder I2 is phased these phasing switches will be moved to the recording position marked PX on the drawing. The phasing switch 99 will be ineffective at this time since the switch 26 is in the receive position.

As stated previously, the equipment shown inf the drawing may serve as a transmitter of image signals, and when operating in this manner the transmit-receive switches will be placed on the T contacts. The apparatus designated by reference character I2 will function to generate image signals in accordance with the scanning of a piece of subject copy when image signals are to be transmitted. The switch 3I will place a positive bias from a source |99 on the grid 32 ofthe tube 33 so that this tube will remain conducting and will draw current from the source 51 through the relay coil 52 and the switch 53, the phasing switches being initially in the phase position. The relay coil 52 will be energized for each revolution of the commutator 38 when the seg' ment 4i comes in contact with the brush 36. The relay tongue I I2 and a cooperating front contact I I4 will be closed for each energization of the relay thus keying a transmitter IIS with a clean phasing signal regardless of the subject copy on the scanning drum, or an equivalent subject copy holder, in the transmitter scanner which may be included in the scanning apparatus I2. After a reasonable interval the phasing switches will be moved to their PX position thus connecting the output of the transmitter scanner I2 to the transmitter H6 over a connection II9.

It will be understood that the system shown illustratively is not limited to operating the receiving motor at higher than normal speeds to effect auto-phasing. The motor could be slowed down equally as well.

Having now described the invention, what is ,6 claimed?.andrdesiredeto,'besecuredbymetters Batentiszthe following: L. z ',:f

. '1; In a facsimile system,l 1.a scanner :having a moving `part `:tobefoperated co-phaseally with ithe movingfpart .of .anotherrscannexg a frequency .responsive .driving motor for said moving=.part,'.a substantiallycons'tant frequency power fsouroe fori-said motor to fprovide substantially lconstant speed,fswitching means operated by said'motor', -signal responsivemeans in series with said switching means, a relay vresponsive `to Vsimultaneous closure of said switching means and foperationxof.saidsignatresponsive means to alter the frequency of said source.

2. In a facsimile system, a scanner having a moving part to be operated co-phaseally with the moving part of another scanner, a frequency responsive driving motor for said moving part, a substantially constant frequency power source for said motor to provide substantially constant speed, switching means operated by said motor, a thermionic tube in series with said switching means, said tube having a control electrode, means to provide phasing signals on said control electrode to cause said tube to be conductive for the duration of the phasing signal, a relay responsive to simultaneous closure of said switching means and conductivity in said tube to alter the frequency of said source.

3. In a facsimile system, a scanner having a moving part to be operated co-phaseally with the moving part of another scanner, a frequency responsive driving motor for said moving part, a substantially constant frequency power source for said motor to provide substantially constant speed operation thereof, periodically operating switch means driven from said motor, an electron tube in series with said switch means, signal control means for said electron tube, means to provide said signal control means with phasing signals, and means responsive to a lack of co-ordination of said electron tube conductive times and said switch means to alter the frequency of said power source.

4. In a facsimile system, a scanner having a moving part to be operated co-phaseally with the moving part of another scanner, a frequency responsive driving motor for said moving part,

' a substantially constant frequency power source for said motor to provide substantially constant speed operation thereof, a frequency divider interposed between said motor and said power source, periodically operating switch means driven from said motor, an electron tube in series with said switch means, signal control means for said electron tube, means to provide said signal control means with phasing signals, means responsive to a lack of co-ordination of said electron tube conductive times and said switch means to alter the frequency dividing scale of the divider, and means responsive to the restoration of co-ordination of said electron tube conductive times and said switch means to restore the frequency dividing scale of the divider.

5. A phasing system for a drive mechanism comprising a frequency responsive motor which is to be operated in phase with another motor, a standard frequency source for supplying driv` ing power to said motor, periodically operating switch means driven from said motor, an electron tube in series with said switch means, signal control means for said electron tube, means to provide said signal control means with phasing signals, a relay having an operating winding in connected series with said switch means and 7 said electron tube through a. pair of relay con tacts which are closed when said coil is de-energized, a second electron tube, contacts on said relay for connecting said second electron tube to said relay operating coil, said contacts being closed upon energization of said relay in response to co-phaseal operation of said motor, said second named electron tube having a control electrode, and means comprising a time constant circuit for maintaining said second electron tube conductive during co-phaseal operation of said motor.

CHARLES N. GILLESPIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

